Success! Everyone wants to be a success, approved by friends and foe alike. To have your Mother and Father speak with pride of you, to have your husband or wife tell you how much good you are doing, or to have others look with "envy" at your growing and successful church.
That last one really gets to those of us who work in or for a church or ministry.
Why have we allowed the worldly ideals of success or failure determine what we do or how we do it in the kingdom of God? Jesus was so successful He was crucified! Paul was so successful that more people wanted him dead than alive - and those were his own people!
As a young preacher/pastor in the early 1970's, I met and became friends with a pastor of a small Friends Church. His church was very small, as I suspect most Friends churches are. He was a wonderful and caring minister, not dynamic as the world counts charisma, but dedicated and very Biblically astute. In our conversations over the years - a group of Pastors from different church groups met regularly for breakfast and conversation - I came to appreciate Bill (not his real name) and the work he was doing. About that same time, Bob (not his real name either) began a church which soon numbered in the 1000's. By the mid 1980's it as one of the largest congregations in the country, a mega-church. And it was doing a terrific job of bringing people into the kingdom and ministering to their needs.
So was Bill and his church of 50 people a success? The other church sure was. Wasn't it? How do you think God the Father will greet each man in heaven? Will Bob be accorded a larger room/mansion/crown than Bill? Which man do you think has the greatest impact in the kingdom of God? Should Bill be sorry he didn't work harder or convert more or have a larger building? Bob gets invited to speak at all the large church conferences? Why? Because he is a success and Christians love success.
What if Bill were invited to speak, instead of Bob? Do you think he might have something just as good to say? He might even have a word of truth from God for those assembled. "But," you say, "no one would come, because no one knows Bill or his church." My answer is: "What does that say about the Church of Jesus Christ in the 20th/21st century?" It says to me that we have allowed the world to set our agenda, determine our directions, and define our successes.
What ever happened to faithfulness? What ever happened to service? What ever happened to selflessness?
How can I encourage a brother or sister to remain faithful and courageous in their life of faith when there life continues to suffer failure and trouble? They are obvously not successful and therefore, maybe not faithful enough either.
Friends, faith is a relationship with the Father, not a definition of success.
Be true to who you are! Be faithful to God! Ignore the applause others are getting. God looks at the heart, not the numbers. Whoever said, "Bloom where you are planted." had it right. Even one flower is a beautiful creation.
Charlie

Homosexuality. Divorce. War. Drugs. Crime. Corruption in government. Money.
What is the greatest sin/error/deviant behavior/evil in our society? Surely it is, at least in the minds of many religious people, one of the above. For churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of assemply, one can frequently hear sermons and speeches denouncing one or more of these. And in some cases, I would agree, at least in principle, that these are evil, or at least wrong.
However, as one who seeks to live his life by the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament, I think we're barking up the wrong tree. If one were to read the New Testament stories of Jesus and the writings of Paul, one would find a great emphasis on ..................... how we speak to and treat one another.
Yes homosexuality is "condemned" in a couple of places; but always in connection with other behaviors such as gossip, divisiveness, slander, etc. Yes divorce is called sin, again in a couple of places. Very little is mentioned regarding war, crime, corruption, or drugs - although we will admit that these evils really don't need to be spelled out. And of course money and its hold over us is a major theme in the teaching of Jesus.
Yet, it is the way we treat each other, how we speak and act, which is roundly comdemned by both Jesus and Paul. Things like enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, clamor, slander, bitterness, unwholesome words, and malice constitute things which are a direct reflection of the fallen (evil) nature of mankind. Over and over again these evils are brought to our attention.
When was the last time you heard of someone being excommunicated or disciplined by a church because of how they spoke to or about others? Do we call dissension sin, or seek to placate the factious person? Is the person sharing gossip really intending to help us "pray more clearly" or are they reveling in the dirt they pass on?
Oh, I know we look at our church doctrines and our zeal to defend the "truth" - at least as we understand it - we separate ourselves from the way of error. And in so doing, we must also call those who disagree with us by nasty names. They are change agents - perverters of the gospel - antichrists.
After 2000 years of church history, now we have finally come to know the whole truth and anyone who doesn't see that we are totally and 100% right is ignorant. And we shouldn't have to put up with these ignorant people, even if they do claim to love God, believe in Jesus, and seek to love and help their fellow man.
Why do we become so upset with the homosexual couple or those divorced and remarried and put up with those who speak evil of a brother or sister? Why are our priorities so out of line? Didn't Jesus say the highest command and noblest ideal is to love God and love our neighbor? If this was first for Him, why isn't it first for us? Perhaps if we took more time stressing the positive aspects of our life together, and at the same time learning how to speak well of and relate to each other, things might improve around us.
Remember, love is more important than law!
Charlie

What is a singular door? Well, a door is that through which we go to get from inside to outside or from outside to inside. Singular can mean unique, one of a kind, or not of the ordinary or it can mean eccentric, slightly askew, or even unexpected.
I hope to share thoughts which may be original or repeated from other sources, ordinary or from a different perspective, normal or off the wall. But they will, hopefully, always be thought provoking.
My name is Charlie. I will be your host. Please dialogue with me as it seems appropriate. I am a Christian, although perhaps not your standard flavor. I am definitely a Jesus person, but again, maybe not the Jesus you are accustomed to. The world in which we all live has various views of this man/God/Christ/Messiah/teacher/revolutionary/savior. For me, He is a door - a way to understand both the inside and the outside of human existence. If you are inside and want to know what is going on outside, maybe I can show you the door? If you are outside looking it, maybe I can invite you in.
Inside what? Outside what? That, too, is open for discussion.
Charlie